Milestones in European Housing Finance

Twenty five years ago housing finance markets hardly existed in many European countries and where they did they had been heavily regulated. The position started to change in the 1970s and in one or two countries there was significant liberalisation in the early 1980s but the shift towards a new set of actors and new instruments did not really gain momentum until later in the decade. Thereafter at global and European levels there were periods of growth followed by crisis in the late 80s and early 90s, jitters for some in the mid/late 90s, a period of stable growth followed by the global financial disaster of 2008/9 from which markets are only just recovering. However there were also enormous differences between countries both in the pattern of change and the outcomes for national housing systems. This book provides evidence on how housing finance markets developed across Europe; which countries followed particular trends and the fundamentals that lay behind the different patterns to examine the lessons that can be learned from past experience and likely future trajectories. As such it will provide in one place both detailed evidence and analysis across countries from country commentators filling a gap which is currently filled only by national analyses or international commentators. The objective of the text is to bring together up to date material from across Europe which will help to clarify (i) how national housing finance markets have dealt with the challenges of deregulation and privatisation since the 1980s,(ii) how the financial crisis has impacted on the structure of the industry and the range of financial instruments available, (iii) how governments and the EU have responded to increasing risks and higher indebtedness in most West European countries and the need to grow new finance markets in Eastern Europe, and (iv) how changing housing finance markets impact on the capacity to provide adequate affordable housing into the future. The book consists of 25 chapters covering developments in countries across Europe together with Australia as a comparator. These concentrate mainly on understanding the sources of private sector finance for owner-occupation. In countries where the private finance market for social and private rental housing is well developed this will also be discussed. For each country the major milestones in the development of the market over the last 25 years are identified and examined. The chapters also look to understanding the efficiency and effectiveness of these national markets into the future. There are four overarching chapters three of which will be provided by the editors: an introductory one setting the economic and housing market context in which financial change has taken place; an analytic framework to provide a basis for drawing out lessons for the European and global markets in finance and housing; and a concluding chapter bringing the lessons together to point to the future role of private housing finance particularly as demographics and incomes change and housing wealth is realised for other purposes. In addition there will be a chapter clarifying the milestones in European Union regulation which has become increasingly irritant in national housing markets over the last two decades.